Ice Storm 09

So how do you prepare for an ice storm?

Well, since I lived through the horrible 2003 ice storm when I was single, living alone in a small one bedroom apartment that did not have power for 7 days, I knew we needed to be prepared.

Thankfully we don't have a fish in a small bowl like I did in '03. That poor fish FROZE to death. May it rest in peace.

But preparing for ice is a bit different this time. I have a husband and child, so we have more needed items.

So, what did I do to prepare?

Well, Monday I stopped at Kroger after work. And I forgot to get more firewood and fire starters for our fireplace. Genius!

So, Tuesday I ventured to Kroger AGAIN after work. Tuesday we had already had round one of the ice, so the parking lot was horribly slushy and flooded from the semi-melting and well-driven areas. Naturally, every other person who forgot their milk or bread was there. I stepped in the largest puddle walking into the store so my feet were cold and wet. I ran around getting the few items I needed and quickly left. Once again stepping in a huge puddle and trying to slide my way to the car without falling.

I get home and decide that I should do all the laundry I can in case we lost power. I figured if we are going to be without power we can at least have clean clothing. So all night I did laundry, to the tune of 7 loads.

I also washed the dirty dishes.

Then I decide to turn the heat up a little in the house. I figured if it was warmer in the house and the power went out it would take a little longer before it got too cold inside.

I watched hours and hours of weather forecasts. To be mentally prepared for what was coming.

My husband and I discussed the fact that we think we have underground power lines. We even stepped out on the front and back porch at 10p.m. to look for power lines. We saw none, so we assumed our power is underground. Which, hopefully, would mean we would keep our power.

I called my parents who live west of me to see what kind of weather they had to know what we could expect here.

Of course I found the flashlights and candles and sat them out in areas I could find them if the power went out.

Then I sat down, read some blogs and went to sleep.

I awoke to a cold rain at 5:45a.m. In a warm, power filled home. But to a car which would only spin tires and could not get out of the drive.

Stay tuned for pictures of the trees down in my ice covered neighborhood.